Welcome to the New DisneyTouristBlog.com!

Welcome to the new and improved Disney Tourist Blog! The website has been rebuilt from the ground up, and now features a brand-new homepage, easier navigation, updated search, and improved performance.

When we originally launched the blog way back in February 2011 (that’s the two of us back then above!), our mission statement, of sorts, was to offer a website that would be “different from the myriad of other Disney sites out there offering travel advice, as we will interject our wit, unique writing style, and quality photography to supplement our objective-as-possible takes on our experiences.”

A ton has changed since then. Both with DTB’s emphasis (for a while, the main daily post was simply a photo of the day) and the broader internet (social media wasn’t nearly as ubiquitous then as today; nevermind new-fangled technology/competition like AI). Yet much is still largely the same. We still do a lot of dining and resort reviews, planning guides and other resources, all written by two humans. And that quasi-mission statement remains more or less the same to this day.

One thing that has obviously changed a lot in the last ~15 years is the look and layout of websites. Even Disney has mostly stopped using the Go.com portal! And since it had been a while since we made any major changes to the style or performance of the website, we felt it was beyond time for an overhaul.

We actually started working on the new site several months ago–figuring out just what we wanted to see in a redesign with the above mission statement in mind. Technically, the process began long before that if you want to count ‘vision boarding’ or whatever, as I had been making notes ‘reader requests’ from the comments and email feedback over the course of the last 3+ years–that’s really when we first started to contemplate a change.

To that point, several of the features we’ve implemented in the design are your suggestions, based on reader feedback we’ve received. So if you’ve left a comment requesting certain changes over the years, thank you! This is the fruit of that. And if there’s something you dislike, well, feel free to blame your fellow readers for that. (Almost feels like there’s a Jungle Cruise skipper name joke in that.)

One thing that was incredibly important was working with skilled professionals this go-round. The previous version of the blog was an off-the-shelf WordPress theme that I installed and modified myself. Back when DTB was simply a personal blog (although technically it still is), that made sense. As the site has grown, that long ago stopped being pragmatic.

Back when switching to a new host several years ago, we enlisted the help of Charles Smith at Wpopt to modernize and “strengthen” (highly technical term) the blog. He made a ton of changes back then that really improved the website. But it was a band-aid approach, as he made lemonade out of lemons with the legacy blog. You might liken it to putting lipstick on a pig, similar to what Walt Disney World had done with Chester & Hester’s Dino-Rama over the years. (Sorry, that’s a bit harsh…to the old look DTB!)

With Disney finally putting Dino-Rama out of its misery, we knew it was time for us to do likewise with a fully-fledged “reimagining” of the blog. And we knew we wanted to work with Charles again, having him do his thing on actual redesign. He was fantastic–always professional and prompt to reply to my requests for further tweaks, answering every question (even the dumb ones). We cannot say enough things about his customer service, attention to detail and, perhaps above all else, his patience as we embarked on this overhaul.

Site Redesign Goals

Beyond ‘quality of life’ improvements, one of the main goals of the overhaul was making the site more user friendly for both daily DTB readers and infrequent vacation planners. We wanted to make it easier to surface core planning content, a lot of which was previously difficult to find (mild understatement) due to Byzantine navigation and search tools.

With this update, major navigational improvements should be immediately evident. More will appear over time, as we work on the backend to continue populating and refining elements of the site. Charles has created exceptional infrastructure; now it’s my job to build that out. (Not everything was possible at launch; we’ve essentially had two versions of the website during this process and there have been limitations on certain changes until the new site actually went live.)

The new site might take some getting used to for longtime readers familiar with the old blog layout that had been unchanged for years, but we’re confident that you’ll quickly adapt–especially since all of the same content (and then some) is here on the new home page. And failing that, you can always adjust your bookmarks to the Latest Posts.

We really hope you like the look, feel and functionality of the new site. A lot of time, thought and effort has already gone into the new site, with more to come. Stay tuned for that!

DTB’s New Logo

We also wanted to work with a great illustrator and designer for a new logo. Both of the previous versions of the DTB logo were made by me, and in both cases, they had big “graphic design is my passion” energy. (I’d like to think they had a certain quaint charm, too?)

Sarah was incredibly passionate about the new logo, and has been for a while (again, at least a few years). She really wanted to work with Adam Grason, who we’ve known via Instagram for ages. We’ve been huge fans of Adam since seeing his designs in the parks, and daydreamed that one day we’d be able to collaborate with him. Well, we did! We’re incredibly fortunate and thankful that he agreed to take on our logo and rebranding project.

Even if you’re not familiar with Adam by name, you’ve undoubtedly seen his work with Walt Disney World and Disneyland. And you should absolutely check out his website to see more of his projects. Our goal with the rebrand was to keep the traveling spirit of the previous logo, but with something completely fresh, timeless, and original. With that relatively minimal guidance, Adam worked his magic and made something special. Or rather, several somethings–Adam delivered a few great graphics packages, making it tough to choose!

In the end, we landed on the visual identity you see on the site. Here’s a better look at the logo, along with the full graphics package:

These visuals and more will be integrated into the website and on social media in the weeks to come; the full rollout is still in progress.

Here’s what Adam had to say about his inspiration for the visual rebrand:

The Disney Tourist Blog rebrand was a chance to capture the heart of what makes the parks so special, that feeling of wonder, nostalgia, and discovery that lives in every visit. Inspired by the timeless artistry of mid-century illustrators like Eyvind Earle, the new logo was crafted to feel both classic and alive with story.

The castle-in-a-stamp mark became a symbol of adventure and memory, a visual postcard from a world that continues to inspire generations. Every color, curve, and flourish was designed to honor the rich tradition of Disney storytelling while giving the brand a renewed sense of magic and purpose. A huge thank you to Sarah and Tom for bringing me into this project and trusting me to help tell your story.

Here’s Adam’s post on Instagram revealing the new logo–scroll through for more about his creative process:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Adam Grason (@studio_grason)

Adam did an incredible job that exceeded even our high expectations! We hope you love the new logo as much as we do!

What’s Next for DTB

Speaking of staying tuned for more to come, we have an exciting few months on the horizon. Much of our energy recently was consumed by this website overhaul; that will remain a behind-the-scenes process for the next few weeks, and then it’ll be time to switch gears to lots of more new content.

On the topic of content, that’s one thing that will not change with the website redesign. DTB will continue the general foolishness for which its known, although Sarah does want to know: what sort of foolishness would you like to see?

(Along with a new logo, Sarah has been wanting to do more giveaways for a while. Obviously, no one is going to respond “no” to the notion of freebies, but there are administrative and logistical challenges with them. So no promises.)

We also have a lot of new upcoming travel plans. This includes setting sail aboard the Disney Destiny next month, attending the kickoff of Christmas at Walt Disney World as a family, Disneyland at Christmas, Epic Universe with a toddler, and more.

One of our goals during these family trips is to post more real-time on social media. Heavy emphasis on “goals” because it remains to be seen whether we achieve this–it’s a lot to juggle with a toddler in tow, but we’ve had a lot of experiences that have “slipped through the cracks” of coverage on DTB (I just realized, for example, that I still haven’t covered Megatron’s first time meeting Figment!), and it’d be nice to get out more ‘quick hits’ in real time, especially on topics that don’t necessarily warrant full posts.

Please consider following us on Facebook and Instagram (Sarah – Tom) if you don’t already. Similarly, we’d love it if you’d subscribe to our free newsletter (sign-up box below). We’ll make every effort to share more quick-hitting content on those platforms–and, who knows, maybe we’ll even do a (1) giveaway!

While we’re daydreaming, another goal is to post more non-Disney content over on DTB’s sister site, TravelCaffeine.com, especially now that we have new experiences with an almost 2 year old–how is it even possible that she’s nearly two?!— who can walk, talk, and has her own opinions on what we do.

Finally, we would be remiss if we didn’t offer a sincere thank you for all of your support over the years. If you made it this far in the post, you’re one of the “real ones” (as the kids say) who make all of this foolishness possible in the first place.

We greatly appreciate not just all of your support, but feedback on the blog over the years. Like we said above, a lot of the changes here are the direct result of reader requests. So thank you for that.

We truly could not do this without all of you. As we’ve said before, we truly have the best readers on the internet, and we absolutely mean that. It’s still kind of wild to us that we get to do this–and that so many of you come along for the ride and share in the experiences and excitement of our family. Your readership and comments mean the world to us–probably far more than most of you will ever know.

Thank you so, so much. You are all part of the DTB family, and we mean that. Chatting with people in the comments here, especially those of you who we’ve gotten to “know” over the years can feel like talking to old friends. Even when there’s debate and disagreement, it’s almost always respectful. A rarity for the internet.

We are immensely fortunate to have the best and most thoughtful readers. This is not a trite platitude–we really mean it. Spend any amount of time browsing the comments section here versus most other websites and you’ll see the contrast (except when a post breaks containment and makes its way to the “full” internet, and then all bets are off). There’s a reason why the first rule of the internet is never read the comments. We are so lucky and grateful to have all of you.

Again, thank you all so much–we hope you enjoy the new DisneyTouristBlog.com!